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Mitch Trubisky shows his potential in first NFL victory

The Chicago Bears made an interesting choice last spring when they traded multiple draft picks to move up one spot in the NFL draft and select quarterback Mitch Trubisky out of North Carolina second overall. The rookie sat behind Mike Glennon to open the season in Chicago, but was finally given the nod to start in week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings. Chicago lost in what was a sloppy game on Monday Night Football, but Trubisky actually looked in control of the offense. In his second game in week six against the Baltimore Ravens, he won his first career NFL game as the Bears pulled off an upset in overtime.

John Fox and the Bears coaching staff have put a leash on Trubisky. They are limiting his pass attempts for the most part and putting the load on the stellar, young, running back duo of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen. He threw the ball 16 times on Sunday, completing 8 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.

Bears fans would obviously love to see their rookie unleashed more often in the Bears offense, but he is being limited for a reason.

Only two games into his career he still makes many of the errors that you would expect from a rookie quarterback. His decision making is questionable sometimes and he sometimes shows a lack of confidence in himself to make throws. His accuracy also fails him at times.

His lack of awareness led to a costly strip sack on this play in the fourth quarter against the Ravens.

Trubisky takes the snap and drops back to pass. He should see the blitz coming as a free Ravens rusher comes in from the secondary. He does not seem to react though. The Bears guard could have done a much better job picking up the blitz but Trubisky cannot be rooted in place if he see’s someone coming towards him. He had a receiver in space on each side of the field, and he was staring at his running back who ran an out route on the play as the hit came in.

The rookie should have maneuvered in the pocket to avoid the rush. If he did not feel like he had space then he should have thrown the ball to his man, open in space, who is breaking off on his route. At worst, he should at least have thrown the ball at his receivers feet to live to fight another down. He held onto the ball for too long and it almost let the Ravens take the lead on the other end.

On this play in overtime, he did throw away the pass, but he made the play more dangerous then he should have.

He rolled out of the pocket to set up a dump off pass to his tight end but it did not develop fast enough and the rushers began to chase him down. Trubisky throws the pass over his receivers head just to get rid of it. When throwing away a pass you want it to either get out of bounds or hit the ground as fast as possible. He lobs it over the top where a Ravens defender can potentially get to it, and return it for a game ending score. It is a minor error, but one that could have cost the Bears everything.

Trubisky had the tendency to hit the panic button under pressure on Sunday. He would usually just run to an open spot and then toss the ball out of bounds even if he had an open receiver. The rookie showed a lack of confidence in his arm to make throws to open receivers throughout the game and preferred to either dump it off short or just throw it away.

He did manage to make some impressive plays in his limited opportunities, though. Including a few ridiculous off balance throws downfield.

This third quarter play was his lone touchdown of the game and it was one to remember. Trubisky rolls out of the pocket immediately after the snap and his offensive line breaks down in front of him. As the pass rush reaches him he lobs a pass off of on foot towards an open receiver in the end zone. He gets smacked after throwing the ball but still gets it away.

Another impressive pass in overtime ended up winning the game for the Bears.

Trubisky grabs the snap and drops into the pocket. Baltimore’s edge rushers come flying around the pocket and close in on the quarterback. He does a good job stepping into the pocket to dodge them, but the interior rush is on its way as well. He quickly cuts outside but he is out of time as the rush has reached him. Instead of just taking the sack, he delivers a beautiful off balance pass over the middle. It was a risky pass the sailed near two receivers. The ball was overthrown but still in range of his man.

His feet can use some work but these are the highlight plays that get Bears fans excited for their new man under center. They will make his quarterback coach cringe for a moment and it will definitely be something the Bears will work on in film study this week but these are the types of ridiculous passes franchise quarterbacks have to make at times.

Eli Manning won a few Super Bowls throwing these ridiculous passes.

While a majority of his struggles come while under pressure, Trubisky looks great when he has a clean pocket.

The Bears run a vertical/deep cross combo to help break the Ravens zone coverage. This is a play that is known to work extremely well against cover 3. Receiver Kendall Wright slips between zones and through the Ravens defense and is wide open. Trubisky turns around, points him out and delivers an absolute strike to his man. The pass is a little low and if he had led him forward with it Wright would have earned a decent amount of yards after the catch as well.

While Trubisky’s arm talent is what earned him that high draft slot, his ability to make plays with his feet is always an appreciated skill.

On this third down play the Ravens rush is yet again coming around the pocket towards Trubisky. Baltimore has overloaded the right side of the line, and Trubisky darts towards his left into open space. The Ravens man coverage has left the quarterback unaccounted for and free to run on third down. He takes off downfield and gains 19 yards to get the first down and a little more to move the chains for Chicago.

Trubisky has only played two games so many of his issues are expected. His confidence is still lacking a bit but he should only gain more as he gets more comfortable in an NFL offense. As he gets more familiar reading NFL defenses, his decision making will only get better as well. His accuracy struggles a bit while under pressure, but the great passes he manages to throw while clean in the pocket show that he has the ability needed to grow as a passer.

Chicago won’t win many games this year and they have holes all over their roster which will take a few years to fill. Quarterback is the biggest role on every NFL team, though, and the Bears may have found their franchise guy with Mitch Trubisky.